Prince Harry waved to the photographers as he and Meghan Markle arrived at London’s Euston station late on Monday night, after his wife’s first address in the country since they left their positions as senior working royals more than two years ago.
On the first day of their quickie tour to Europe, the Duke, 37, and Duchess, 41, had returned from Manchester Piccadilly after the latter’s keynote address at the One Young World conference at Bridgewater Hall.
The happy Sussexes were accompanied by security personnel as they made their way hand-in-hand to their waiting 4x4s. Meghan waved and grinned as she got into one of the cars.
According to reports, they were returned to Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage, where they would spend the night before continuing on to Dusseldorf, Germany, for the second leg of their European tour.
In her address, Meghan gushed over Harry and the “life-changing” effects of being a mother to Archie, adding that it was “really good to be back in the UK.”
It happened just a few days after her contentious interview with The Cut magazine, in which she intimated that she can “say anything” and said that forgiving takes “a lot of work.”
Some saw this as a thinly disguised threat to the Royal Family.
Prior to their Megxit—their resignation as senior working royals in January 2020—she said that she and Harry were “simply by being” upsetting the establishment.
The One Young World organisation was “integral” to her life before she met Harry, and she was “thrilled” that he could join her this year, she said in her address on Monday.
She added that it was now a “pleasure” to meet them once again with him at her side and “on UK soil.”
The Duchess also said how her life had “changed radically by 2019” and how, after experiencing “the global community through the eyes of my kid,” her perspective had “stretched immensely.”
“And I would ask what is this new world that he is adopting and what can we do, what can I do, to improve it?” She spoke.
The pair will take a one-hour picturesque trip down the Rhine on a “party boat,” which is often crowded with visitors, as part of their visit to Germany today to begin the countdown to the Invictus Games, which will be hosted in Dusseldorf in September.
They will travel down the Rhine to Duisburg for the afternoon excursion on the £13 million MS Rhein Galaxie, which will conclude at the Merkur-Spiel sports complex, the site of the athletic competition for injured veterans.
Officials from the city of Düsseldorf maintain that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit is private and that they will be escorted by their own security team at their own expense.
However, German police will also be present, mainly to manage the crowds in the market square where Harry and Meghan will start their visit at 12.30 p.m.
According to a police source, temporary barricades will be put in place along the route from the airport in Düsseldorf to the city centre to prevent the convoy of cars carrying Harry and Meghan from being caught in traffic.
Due to the nature of the visit, neither police motorcycle outriders nor the pursuing police vehicles will activate their flashing blue lights.
But according to the source, the convoy would include a truck carrying a doctor and medical supplies for the three-mile trip into the city.
Although this is a private visit, a source from the city of Düsseldorf told Mail Online: “We do not want anything to go wrong or there to be any incident.” The city is being shown.
Despite the fact that they will have their own security teams, the police will be engaged and briefed. As the Invictus Games’ hosts, we want everything to go as smoothly as possible.
Although there have been several meetings and arrangements have altered, we are certain the visit will go well.
Less than half a mile separates Prince William, Kate, and their three children from where the Duke and Duchess spent their first nights in the UK. However, the families are not anticipated to interact, highlighting the chasm between the brothers.
Their first public appearance in the UK since returning for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, this event marked the latest development in Harry’s ongoing legal dispute with the Home Office over their denial of 24-hour, taxpayer-funded armed police bodyguards.
The decision by the couple to surround Bridgewater Hall with at least two private security companies, dog teams, and steel came just days after Meghan told the US publication The Cut that it takes “a lot of effort” to forgive and hinted that she can “say anything,” in what has been interpreted as a subliminal threat to the Royal Family.
After Harry was informed that he was no longer eligible for taxpayer-funded official armed police bodyguards, it is believed that the couple and the event organisers had made arrangements for private protection.
Greater Manchester Police acknowledged that none of its officers were associated with the event and said that security had been “privately procured.”
The loss of Harry’s taxpayer-funded armed police protection bodyguards once they resigned as frontline royals, according to Harry, is “unfair,” “illegal,” and puts his family in danger. Harry is suing the Home Office for these reasons.
Harry will give a speech at the WellChild Awards in London on Thursday after the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year To Go event.
The couple turned down Prince Charles’ “open offer” to stay with them at his Scottish vacation home on the Balmoral estate in addition to not meeting William and Kate.
Prior to their visit to the UK, the Prince of Wales assured the couple they were “always welcome” at his house, according to insiders at the palace.
Even though the two are now residing around 380 feet away from one another in Windsor, it was revealed on Monday that Prince William has “no intentions” to visit his younger brother Prince Harry before the California-based royal launches his shocking biography this winter.
According to reports, William, 40, and his wife Kate Middleton are keeping their distance from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex until they are aware of the details of their Netflix documentary and Harry’s upcoming book.
According to Angela Levin, a royal biographer, “They have lost their possibility of being trusted because the likelihood is they will record every discussion and use it against them.”
William, according to Levin, lacks confidence that Harry, 37, won’t record their chats. The author said that the Sussexes’ refusal to engage with William is due to their “own responsibility for greatly exaggerating and being disrespectful.”
Prior to their trip to Europe, Harry and Meghan are said to have landed in Windsor’s Frogmore Cottage on Saturday.
Only 380 feet separate the home from the Cambridges’ new four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, where William and Kate spent the weekend with their kids.
According to officials who spoke to The Mirror, Charles believed that the Sussexes’ time with him would be a “wonderful chance for everyone to take stock and unwind.”
The source said, “But the invitation was denied, as it has before,” and added Charles hasn’t “wavered” in his efforts to build a connection with his son “despite the assaults, which appear to be coming with renewed vigour.”
Following a Sunday morning photo of Charles, 73, walking alone to church in Balmoral, word of the denied offer spread. According to insiders, Charles still finds Harry and Meghan’s digs at the Royal Family “sad” and their actions “totally bewildering.”